Omari Wiles And Les Ballet Afrik Present NEW YORK IS BURNING

HBO Max's Legendary season 2 Star Omari Wiles and his company Les Ballet Afrik bring ballroom culture, vogue and AfrikFusion dance to Long Island's East End, through January 14, 2022.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim dance commission "New York Is Burning" continues development in a residency at The Church, Sag Harbor. Ballroom documentary "Paris Is Burning" screening at Sag Harbor Cinema. Vogue Class, Open Rehearsal, and Show & Tell at The Church, co-organized with Guild Hall. The Church, Guild Hall and Works & Process at the Guggenheim continue LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" pilot, adding partner Sag Harbor Cinema, collaborating to nurture region-wide support for creative process and encourage artists and audiences to embrace the artistic process as destination.

Introducing Long Island's East End to the underground LGBTQ Ballroom culture that started in the 1970s as a safe haven for black and brown young people, from January 3 through 14, 2022, HBO Max's Legendary Season 2 star Omari Wiles and his company Les Ballet Afrik will be in residence at The Church, Sag Harbor. The company will develop their Works & Process dance commission New York Is Burning, set to premiere at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Fall 2022. During the Les Ballet Afrik's LaunchPAD residency, to foster greater understanding for the artistic process and Ballroom culture, the public is invited to attend community events co-organized by The Church, Guild Hall, Sag Harbor Cinema, and Works & Process designed to promote appreciation for artistic process.

Works & Process LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" programs consists of fully-funded residencies across the Hudson Valley and Long Island. In this iteration, The Church, Sag Harbor will provide devoted rehearsal space and living accommodations space in its historic building. Works & Process will provide living wage artists fees, transportation, and healthcare insurance coverage. In partnership with Guild Hall, community events are organized for the public and younger local artists to interact with these extraordinary groups. In anticipation of their theater renovation, Guild Hall is partnering organizations to produce off-site programs.

SCREENING AT SAG HARBOR CINEMA

Ballroom documentary Paris Is Burning with introduction by Omari Wiles

Thursday, January 6, 7pm

Sag Harbor Cinema, 90 Main St, Sag Harbor, NY 1196, (631) 725-0010

www.saghaborcinema.org

Proof of vaccination and masks required.

EVENTS AT THE CHURCH, CO-ORGANIZED BY GUILD HALL AND WORKS & PROCESS

Les Ballet Afrik Open Rehearsal

Saturday, January 8, 11am - 3pm

Public invited to observe

Vogue Dance Class for Teens Only

Wednesday, January 12, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

For more information email Anthony Madonna (amadonna@guildhall.org)

New York Is Burning Public Show & Tell

Thursday, January 13, 6:30 - 7:30 pm

Public invited

Tickets $10

The Church, 48 Madison Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963, (631) 919-5342

www.thechurchsaghabor.org

Proof of vaccination and masks required.

Commissioned before the pandemic, New York Is Burning was to honor the 30th anniversary of the of the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning, which received critical acclaim for its depiction of New York's LGBTQ Ballroom scene and of voguing as a powerful expression of personal pride in the face of racism, homophobia, and the stigma of the AIDS crisis. In uncanny resemblance and just as Paris Is Burning did for New York in the 1980s, New York Is Burning reflects the aspirations, desires, and yearnings of a diverse group of dancers in a city again beset by health, race, and financial crises. Led by choreographer and dancer Omari Wiles, the founding father of the House of Oricci and a legend within the Ballroom community, New York Is Burning centers on the artists for whom the dance company serves as a surrogate family including Kya Azeen, Eva Bust A' Move, Algin Ford-Sterling, Alora Martinez, Shireen Rahimi, Milerka Rodriguez, Yuki Sukezane, and Yuhee Yang. The long-awaited world premiere in Fall 2022 will bring Ballroom to the Guggenheim in a work featuring Wiles's AfrikFusion, a style that combines traditional African dances and Afrobeat with house dance and vogue.

New York Is Burning is commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim and at the peak of the pandemic was received Works & Process bubble residencies at Catskill Mountain Foundation and Kaatsbaan Cultural Park. Works & Process bubble residencies were made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. New York Is Burning is also supported by at Works & Process LaunchPAD "Process and Destination" residency at The Church, Sag Harbor, in partnership with Guild Hall and Sag Habor Cinema.

New York Is Burning, is the second in a series of LaunchPAD programs, the first LaunchPAD program took place November 29-December 5, 2021 and featured Third Bird, a new Works & Process commission and collaboration by Bridgehampton resident Isaac Mizrahi, with choreographer John Heginbotham and composer Nico Muhly.